School Enrolment

With the new school year well underway, there has been lots of talk in the territory about the shortage of supply teachers, safety at some schools and overcrowding. There isn't much data that I can pull about the St. Elias Community School, and the 2018 enrolment figure is an estimate, but I've graphed what I've got.

It's delightful to see a positive linear progression for enrolment growth. We're almost back to the enrolment high we saw back in 1999. However, we need to be mindful that that high enrolment rate in 1999 was from a population catchment area of approximate 774 and in 2018 we're at approximate 927 in our catchment. This, along with our high senior's dependency ratio, indicate that Haines Junction is aging.

It's easy to imagine that our school community may feel pressure from the increased enrolment numbers. It looks as though student enrolment steadily declined for a number of years and then hovered at around 125-130 for quite a few years. The recent increase to 155 students, for such a small school, likely puts a strain on resources -- but overall it's a great indicator for the community of a rebounding youth population and let's hope we see growth trend continue over the coming years.